Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[TallJ]

I should add, sorry to you purists, but I don't really care what the CHICKEN looks like (though the BC pics I have seen are AWESOME!) I am looking for the EGG color.

 

[CristinaB]

I should add, sorry to you purists, but I don't really care what the CHICKEN looks like (though the BC pics I have seen are AWESOME!) I am looking for the EGG color.

So, what do you breed for? Just dark eggs? Smooth eggs? Consistent coloring? Speckling?

Just curious as I know this is another aspect of breeding this type of chicken. My hens lay a nice dark egg but nothing like some I have seen. What I love about them is that they are glossy and there is no speckling, just a milky smooth dark rich egg that looks like chocolaty heaven.

 

[DMRippy]

I am pretty new to chicken keeping, (our first flock.....anxiously awaiting our first egg) and I recently read about Marans having great dark chocolate colored eggs. I heard Black Copper Marans have the darkest eggs of the Marans. Is this true? I would love to have a few, but we don't really want to deal with any roosters. I am also a little nervous at the thought of bringing an older chicken (ie, not a newly hatched) in to the flock. Maybe horror stories are rare, but I have read a few and don't want to loose our girls!
I see on sites like Murry McMurray that they have cockoo marans, and Meyer has several 'colors' - do they lay eggs as dark as the BCs? Also, I am guessing that a hobbyish breeder hatching their own eggs can't tell which are going to be which sex? My hubby would have a fit if I paid $9 for a rooster! LOL He is sure we have 'enough' chickens, but I find myself wanting a few more!!! :-D

Since you are not going to breed look for someone in your area with BCM. Hatchery birds, no matter what color.... cuckoo or BCM..... will not lay you a dark egg. they are breed just to fill an order. You need to find someone that breeds for egg color mostly. My guess is you will be impressed with even reg dark color marans eggs.... 5-6 on the chart. Darker eggs are hard to come by.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

OK, it's in the incubator LOL!!! it has a whole sportsman 1502 with one egg sitting in the middle hahah!!!!

That is just too funny. I have an old 1266 so visualization is not difficult! Was this a pullet's first egg or just out of nowhere comes this Hershey egg?

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
You might want to wait till you get a batch to hatch.... she might lay more......

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

I am pretty new to chicken keeping, (our first flock.....anxiously awaiting our first egg) and I recently read about Marans having great dark chocolate colored eggs. I heard Black Copper Marans have the darkest eggs of the Marans. Is this true? I would love to have a few, but we don't really want to deal with any roosters. I am also a little nervous at the thought of bringing an older chicken (ie, not a newly hatched) in to the flock. Maybe horror stories are rare, but I have read a few and don't want to loose our girls!
I see on sites like Murry McMurray that they have cockoo marans, and Meyer has several 'colors' - do they lay eggs as dark as the BCs? Also, I am guessing that a hobbyish breeder hatching their own eggs can't tell which are going to be which sex? My hubby would have a fit if I paid $9 for a rooster! LOL He is sure we have 'enough' chickens, but I find myself wanting a few more!!! :-D

Those super dark eggs are a rarity in the USA. If you decide to get yourself a Marans (any Marans) do yourself a favor and buy from a local breeder where you can see the eggs the pullet or hen is from. The hatchery birds are substandard for the most part and many of them are not really purebreds. Things like crossing barred rocks in with cuckoo Marans happen more often than you'd like to know at the big production hatcheries.

 

[Sally8]

Holy Cannoli!!! Lookie what i found in the coop today!! my first 8 !!!! it's true they do exist and are not the stuff of legend...

i was so excited it washed it...stupid me I should have tried to hatch it!!

I am so drooling! What a nice egg!

I should add, sorry to you purists, but I don't really care what the CHICKEN looks like (though the BC pics I have seen are AWESOME!) I am looking for the EGG color.

I also am not concerned with the looks of the chickens but would like a darker egg color than what mine are giving and to reply to the next post, how would I go about finding a BCM breeder anywhere near me?

Since you are not going to breed look for someone in your area with BCM. Hatchery birds, no matter what color.... cuckoo or BCM..... will not lay you a dark egg. they are breed just to fill an order. You need to find someone that breeds for egg color mostly. My guess is you will be impressed with even reg dark color marans eggs.... 5-6 on the chart. Darker eggs are hard to come by.

 

[downtheriver]

I am so drooling! What a nice egg!

I also am not concerned with the looks of the chickens but would like a darker egg color than what mine are giving and to reply to the next post, how would I go about finding a BCM breeder anywhere near me?

You might have already stated but i missed it ......... Where are you located ?

 

[Sally8]

You might have already stated but i missed it ......... Where are you located ?

Hornby, NY, between Corning and Watkins Glen.

 

[DMRippy]

I think there might be a breeder list on the Marans Club's sites. Craigslist is an options too.... ask to see eggs. Egg color can improve quickly in your own flock. If you hatch the Darkest eggs and those dark layers are breed to a roo that came from dark eggs. Breeding back to sire will darken the eggs..... it just takes time. Chose eggs that you like and want to breed for.... dark smooth glossy matte spotted..... breed for the eggs and they will come hehe.

As Snowbird stated when you add new blood to your marans egg color will get lighter..... keep breeding back to sire or dam and you will get darker eggs.